Park National Bank history

The bank became the First National Bank of Pittsburgh in 1863, the first in the city to do so.

One of its predecessors, Provident Life and Trust Company, was established in 1865 as an insurance company.

Alvin R. Lindorf, owner of a dry goods store on the Courthouse Square, became frustrated by a local bank – the rumor is he was turned down for a loan – and created The Guardian Savings and Trust Company in 1907 with the help of Augustus G. Wyeth and William W. Gard.

Everett D. Reese, an Ohio State University graduate who was hired June 1921 as an assistant cashier, is named president of Park National Bank in January by the board of directors and Alvin R. Lindorf becomes chairman of the board.

In 1922, the Provident Life and Trust Company split into two independent entities: Provident Mutual Life Insurance Company and Provident Trust Company.

The Great Depression and a sagging bond market forces Park to recall its December 1930 stockholders’ dividend.

In 1946, First National of Pittsburgh and Peoples-Pittsburgh banks joined to form Peoples First National Bank and Trust Co.

The latter company combined with Provident Tradesmens Bank and Trust Company to create Provident National Bank in 1957.

In 1959, Fidelity Trust Company merged with Peoples First which created Pittsburgh National Bank.

Park National Bank was established on June 22, 1963, with eight employees.

In 1964 the bank added a “ladies department,” headed by Inez Johnson, to “help the distaff side with troublesome budget snarls as well as home improvement loans.”

The number of female officers at Park rose in 10 years from just two (Betty Birmingham and Geraldine Marston) in 1970 to eight, including Marston, Cynthia Crane, Suzanne Graves, Pamela Furnas, Mary Larimer, Shirley Matheny, Donna Buris and Marilyn (Skinner) Porter.

Park acquires Scope Aircraft Finance, founded in 1975 and which specializes in loans for high-performance piston, turboprop and light jet aircraft, from a private individual.

After the Ohio Legislature passed a bill in 1978 permitting banks to operate branches in contiguous counties to the counties where they were incorporated, Park opened its first office outside Licking County in July at 150 E. Broad St in Columbus.

Pittsburgh National and Provident National were the first two banks to act on the new legislation, and came together in 1983 in what was at the time the largest bank merger in United States history.

The center operated from the Krebs Building (later renamed for John Alford on October 15, 1985).

A series of mergers with local banks followed and, in 1986, PNC took the major step of merging with an out-of-state bank, Citizens Fidelity Corporation of Louisville, Kentucky.

In 1990, PNC made the strategic decision to move from separate technology platforms, operated by each individual bank, to a single common platform.

Another series of acquisitions began in 1991, when PNC purchased First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Pittsburgh.

In 1993, PNC acquired Sears Mortgage Company.

Reese remained affiliated with Park as a board member until his death in 1995, completing 74 years of service.

Mutual Federal was renamed Century National Bank in June 1997.

In 1999, PNC's steady transformation into a diversified company with national reach was further strengthened with the acquisition of First Data Investor Services Group (ISG), a leading provider of services to mutual funds and other investment vehicles.

It was acquired by Associated Bank, probably in 2000.

In 2003, PNC acquired United National Bancorp.

He served as president of Park until 2004 and as chairman of the bank and PRK since then.

In 2005, PNC made a number of strategic acquisitions in growth areas, which included:

In 2006, BlackRock Financial Management acquired Merrill Lynch's investment management business creating one of the top 10 investment management companies in the world with assets under management more than $1 trillion.

On June 7, 2007, PNC announced it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hamilton, N.J.-based Yardville National Bancorp, a commercial and consumer bank with $3 billion in assets, $2 billion in deposits and 33 branches in central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

On March 31, 2008, PNC completed the definitive agreement to sell J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc., a full-service brokerage and financial services provider headquartered in Louisville, Ky., to Bowling Green, Ky.-based Houchens Industries, Inc.

Miller joined Park in 2009 as vice president and subsequently was promoted to senior vice president and chief accounting officer.

The sale, which closed on July 1, 2010, further focuses PNC on its core banking business while offering PNC GIS the scale and scope to compete more effectively throughout the world.

Licking/Knox Goodwill Industries Inc. names Park National Bank as its 2011 Community Partner of the Year.

The acquisition closed on March 2, 2012.

Brady T. Burt joins Park as chief accounting officer and becomes chief financial officer in 2013.

The Ohio Statewide Development Corp. honors Park National Bank as its 2014 Community Bank of the Year for its effort to help small businesses.

Earlier in the year, the Community Capital Development Corporation names Park its 2016 Bank of the Year for providing $3.32 million in small-business loans that led to $11.3 million in expansion.

The same office building continues to serve as the main office with total assets exceeding $7.7 billion on December 31, 2017.